Detroit water shutoff deferment period expires

DETROIT, MI -- Monday marks the last day delinquent Detroit water customers can be assured that their service will not be interrupted.

After a series of protests and criticism regionally and beyond, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan implemented a 15-day shutoff reprieve, allowing customers time to enter into a payment plan or otherwise eliminate their debt.

As of about three weeks ago, city officials said they'd shut off water to up to 18,000 residential customers, nearly 1 in 10 customers. and estimated up to 70 percent of those customers had made arrangements to have their service restored.

Duggan announced a revised water bill collection plan earlier this month and promised to streamline the payment process for customers facing shutoffs, including expanding hours of operations and more staff to help, and improve notification to delinquents. The city also has created a nonprofit fund to accept donations for those in need. It already has a few hundred thousand dollars in it, said Duggan, who was given control of the water department by state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr as criticism of the shutoffs escalated.

Detroit's water system serves about 700,000 city residents and 4 million people in southeastern Michigan, but the city-owned water system has about $6 billion in debt that's covered by bill payments. As of July 1, more than $89 million was owed on nearly 92,000 past-due residential and commercial accounts, which are still subject to shut off.